The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, met Moon Jae-in, President of the Republic of Korea, for the first time, and expressed the Organization’s determination to bolster cooperation with the Korean Peninsula.

“UNESCO wishes to commit its support to inter-Korean reconciliation through concrete projects,” declared the Director-General. “We can help restore the links between peoples through shared heritage, educational programmes and cooperation in natural resources management. Facilitating, even accelerating, the construction of durable peace in the Korean Peninsula through culture, education and the sciences is both the ambition and core mandate of UNESCO.”

To that end, UNESCO intends to focus on projects that are at once concrete and symbolic. In her talk with the President of the Republic of Korea, the Director-General spoke of her will to reinforce cooperation in the three area of cultural heritage, education and science. These proposals will be discussed with the authorities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

With regard to cultural heritage, discussions are expected to concern cooperation with a view to identifying shared nominations for inscription on the World Heritage List and on UNESCO’s lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Work will also be undertaken to publish a first dictionary of Korean etymology.

In education, UNESCO will lend its support to teachers by reinforcing global citizenship education. Educational programmes to be implemented across the Peninsula could also be developed.

Finally, Ms Azoulay and President Moon Jae-in also envisaged scientific cooperation with regard to water and environmental preservation. Discussions notably focused on initiatives that could be implemented to facilitate joint access, sharing and management of transboundary water resources, and the preservation of biodiversity and its sustainable use for the benefit of local communities.